Even with a full, ready-to-build RepRap kit of parts, you will always have to connect various components and devices to the electronics — and sometimes that means crimping connectors or doing a little[more…]

The Prusa i3 3D printer has switches to let the electronics know when the X, Y, and Z carriages are at the home position. These can very often require an inverted signal for the electronics to understand[more…]

You will need to upload the Marlin firmware to the RAMPS electronics on your Prusa i3 3D printer. When you've made your printer-specific setting changes to the file, you can save the file. Then check to[more…]

When you get a hot-end blockage or your extruder's filament drive fails on your 3D printer, the signs are usually obvious: The stream of plastic starts to lessen, and then stops; the printer keeps trying[more…]

The golden rule about 3D printing extruders: Use fans. When you start experimenting with printing ultra-tiny objects with fine details or printing objects at great speed, you quickly discover an interesting[more…]

When Slic3r has been installed successfully, you can go about configuring it. Before an object can be sliced up into layers for 3D printing, Slic3r has to know a number of key settings for your particular[more…]

You will need to set the extruder calibration on your 3D printer. Before you can calculate the last value, you need to ensure that the correct amount of plastic is extruded for a set extruder distance,[more…]

This is an exciting moment, but don't get overly ambitious for this first 3D object. Instead of jumping in with a complex object at this stage, try printing something easier — like a simple cube.[more…]

Major transitions rarely happen without stress. Additive manufacturing offers exciting new capabilities, but it also abbreviates the production process that underlies modern mass manufacturing — creating[more…]

Additive manufacturing is not a futuristic technology; it's already in place and in use across many industries from medical implants to aerospace technologies. As material options expand and complexity[more…]

Many of the designs made possible through additive manufacturing are impossible using traditional manufacturing technologies — or, if they're not outright impossible, they're at least so expensive or[more…]

Editing this file is the heart of the Prusa i3 3D printer configuration process. This section provides an overview and specific recommendations. Keep in mind that there is a text file in computer programming[more…]